How to Win Bond Campaigns: 5 Proven Election Strategies
Written by niki juhasz
what’s in the Blog
This guide breaks down the essential strategies for winning bond campaigns and special elections by moving away from guesswork and toward data-driven community engagement. You’ll learn how to:
Listen before you lead: Discover why gathering community feedback through surveys and town halls is the foundation of every successful bond campaign.
Prioritize needs over wants: Learn how to frame messaging around "must-have" safety and infrastructure projects that resonate with voters during periods of rising costs.
Leverage radical specificity: See how tools like project dashboards and renovation schedules make large-scale bonds feel personal and manageable for every resident.
Master the Long Sprint: Adapt your timing to the rise of early voting with a high-impact three-week strategy that builds momentum while minimizing voter fatigue.
A couple of weeks ago, I put on my voting shirt (yes, I have one) and headed to vote in Virginia’s special election.
Leading up to the vote, I got So. Many. Campaign. Messages.
The problem? Most of them were unconvincing. It made me think about just how important special elections and bond campaigns are.
That’s why today, I’m sharing best practices about what’s working *right now* for special elections and bond campaigns.
involve the community early
We analyzed 25+ bond campaigns and found that nearly every successful campaign started with a way for voters to share feedback.
In winning campaigns, bond advocates began by gathering information about their target audiences’ views, wants and needs. Think surveys, town halls, a portal where the community can share their ideas and vision, coffee shop sessions where community members can drop by to chat… the list goes on!
By listening first, you:
Show the community that you value their thoughts and needs.
Can create powerful campaigns and campaign messaging that speak directly to the values you know they have.
Can reflect back what you heard and how it relates to the bond campaign.
Meet potential champions for your work, too.
Psst: Here are some budget-friendly ways to message test!
focus on needs, not wants
I’m writing outside a coffee shop right now, and to my left is a gas station – gas is nearly $4. With prices rising, voters are prioritizing needs (like safety) over wants (think a new stadium when you already have one that isn’t falling down.) To meet the moment:
Lead with the needs. For example, focus on the need for safe classrooms, fire station response times or safety for a bridge families drive over every day. These are not nice to haves. These are all things community members understand and are more likely to prioritize. Make it feel real.
Be as specific as possible. For example, a $460 million Fairfax County education bond passed in 2025. The team explicitly linked specific school renovation schedules → with named schools. This helped parents feel like their kids would be “getting their share.”
Make it imaginable. A winning Oklahoma campaign launched a dashboard where residents could type in their address and see every project slated for their neighborhood. Suddenly, voters could see that that flipping pothole on *their* street would FINALLY be fixed, as opposed to guessing what the bond campaign would pay for.
Put the money into perspective. In the Oklahoma campaign I mentioned above, voters approved a $2.7 billion (with a b!) bond. They did this in a couple of ways:
An existing tax was expiring. The team framed the bond campaign as a renewal of the existing commitment, rather than a new burden. Tax payers wouldn’t have to pay any more than they were already paying!
They listed 547 projects. This specificity makes it difficult for opposition to claim the money will be wasted or mismanaged. Specificity saves the day! (And the vote.)
time it right
With the rise of early voting, the Election Day push is not what it used to be. We’re seeing a longer sprint – think 3 or 4 weeks – as a more effective strategy now.
Before the sprint window. Remember to get your community feedback first and to create powerful values-based messaging based on what you hear. Consider how you’ll reach voters both with and without internet access.
During your sprint. Lead your heavy-hitting campaign (flyers, door-knockers, social ads and more) about three weeks before early voting begins. This prevents voter fatigue and gives the opposition less time to organize a counter-narrative.
After the vote. Don’t forget to say thank you AND follow-up with your next steps.
As midterms approach, it’s time for us to create our plans and win some campaigns.
About the Author
Niki Juhasz is a Vice President at Forthright Advising with extensive experience in advocacy and strategic communications. A passionate advocate for community-led change, Niki specializes in helping organizations move past guesswork to build winning campaigns rooted in listener feedback and values-based messaging. Whether she is analyzing the success of massive multi-billion dollar bonds or navigating the nuances of local special elections, Niki’s expertise lies in making complex financial initiatives imaginable and urgent for voters. Since joining Forthright, she has partnered with numerous clients to transform their campaign strategies into successful movements for community impact.
